Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
November is the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory since 1888;
2023
23,658  Lives Saved Since 2007

Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

Vigília sancti Andréæ Apóstoli.
 The Vigil of St. Andrew, apostle.


CAUSES OF SAINTS


Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
   Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War
Acts of the Apostles


  Goodbye Vern Bartholomew 1917-2017 on All Saints/All Souls day  Requiescat in pace;
Thanks for being such a great Dad


Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary .

“If you want to see St Francis, watch Father Master”.

 
Father Francis Luceras' first superior said that he reached such a degree of mystical union with God that he was filled with Him. One characteristic was intense devotion to the Mother of God as conceived free from original sin, Every year he celebrated a solemn public novena before the feast of the Conception (Lucera still observes).
It was on the first day of this novena, November 29, in 1742, that Father Francis died.

November 29
6th v. St. Sadwen Confessor Brother of Saint Illtyd and disciple of Saint Cadfan  
560 St. Hieromartyr Abibus the Bishop of Nekressi in Georgia relics were glorified by healings
562 St. Brendan of Birr, Abbot contemporary of Saint Brendan the Voyager, and his fellow-disciple under Saint Finian at Clonard Abbey  great friend and protector of Saint Columba
1328 Servant of God John of Monte Corvino; soldier, judge and doctor before a friar. Prior to going to Tabriz, Persia (present-day Iran), in 1278, he was well known for his preaching and teaching. In 1291 he left Tabriz as a legate of Pope Nicholas IV to the court of Kublai Khan. An Italian merchant, a Dominican friar and John traveled to western India where the Dominican died. John and the Italian merchant arrived in China 1294, established his headquarters in Khanbalik (now Beijing), built 2 churches; 1st resident Catholic mission; By 1304 he had translated the Psalms and the New Testament into the Tatar language.


You people of Vitebsk want to put me to death. You make ambushes for me everywhere, in the streets, on the bridges, on the highways, and in the marketplace. I am here among you as a shepherd and you ought to know that I should be happy to give my life for you. I am ready to die for the holy union, for the supremacy of St. Peter and of his successor the Supreme Pontiff.
-- St Josaphat

November 29 – The Virgin with a Heart of Gold (Beauraing, Belgium, 1932)

  Her heart was illuminated as if it were made of gold
On November 29, 1932, Fernande Voisin, age 15, and her brother Albert, age 11, went to bring their 13 year-old sister, Gilberte, home from the boarding school of the Sisters of the Christian Doctrine of Nancy, accompanied by their friend Andrée Degeimbre, age 14, and her 9 year-old sister, Gilberte.

Just after ringing the doorbell of the school, Albert turned around and stared in the direction of the nearby railroad tracks, and exclaimed: "Look at the Virgin walking over the bridge!" (…). On November 30th, the Blessed Virgin appeared to them again above the bridge; and again on December 1st (…). Then, after December 29th, they saw that her heart was illuminated on her chest as if it were made of gold.

The Virgin Mary appeared about thirty more times, until January 3, 1933. Our Lady introduced herself in the following way: “I am the Immaculate Virgin, the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven.” (…) The last evening, she declared: “I will convert sinners.” She said to Fernande: “Do you love my Son? Do you love me?” And, after Fernande repeated "yes" twice, she finally said: “Then, sacrifice yourself for me. Farewell.”

Msgr André Marie Charue, bishop of Namur (France), approved the supernatural character
 of the apparitions on July 2, 1949.  The Mary of Nazareth Team

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here }
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

     250 St. Paramon and 375 Companions martyrs
     257 St. Saturninus Bishop of Touloise
Martyr
     275 St. Philomenus Martyr Ancyra, Galatia
     309 Sts. Saturninus priest from Carthage & Sisinius deacon Martyrs of Rome
     320 St. Illuminata of Todi virgin venerated at Ravenna in the Middle Ages, is still greatly venerated in Todi
           SS Blaise & Demetrius martyred at Veroli in central Italy MM (RM)
6th v. St. Sadwen Confessor Brother of Saint Illtyd and disciple of Saint Cadfan
     560 St. Hieromartyr Abibus the Bishop of Nekressi in Georgia relics of the saint were glorified by healings
 562 St. Brendan of Birr, Abbot contemporary of Saint Brendan the Voyager, and his fellow-disciple under Saint Finian at Clonard Abbey  great friend and protector of Saint Columba
  
   573 St. Brendan of Birr monk at Clonard
6th v. Venerable Acacius of Sinai died after suffering these torments for nine years mentioned in the Ladder (Step 4:110) as an example of endurance and obedience, and of the rewards for these virtues
7th v. St. Hardoin Bishop of St. Pol de-Leon, in Brittany
7th v. St. Egelwine Confessor prince of the house of Wessex
     817 St. Walderic of Murrhardt  abbot-founder with the help of Emperor Louis the Pious OSB
     918 St. Radbod  Benedictine bishop great grandson of the last pagan King of Friesland
1010 St. Gulstan Benedictine disciple of St, Felix
12th v. Venerable Nectarius the Obedient of the Kiev Near Caves
1250 Blessed Jutta of Heiligenthal  founded and served as the first abbess OSB Cist. Abbess
1328 Servant of God John of Monte Corvino; soldier, judge and doctor before a friar. Prior to going to Tabriz, Persia (present-day Iran), in 1278, he was well known for his preaching and teaching. In 1291 he left Tabriz as a legate of Pope Nicholas IV to the court of Kublai Khan. An Italian merchant, a Dominican friar and John traveled to western India where the Dominican died. John and the Italian merchant arrived in China 1294, established his headquarters in Khanbalik (now Beijing), built 2 churches; 1st resident Catholic mission; By 1304 he had translated the Psalms and the New Testament into the Tatar language.

Nov 29 - Apparition of Our Lady of the Golden Heart at Beauraing (Belgium, 1932)  Let us listen to Mary Our Mother
Five young children in Beauraing, Belgium had thirty-three apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary beginning on November 29, 1932. The children said that the Blessed Virgin wore a white gown with "blue reflections" and that her hair was covered with a white veil; very fine rays shone all around her head. On January 2nd the Mother of God told the children, "Tomorrow I shall say something to each one of you." The next day each of the children was given a secret. Along with the secret Our Lady said, "I will convert sinners." Our Blessed Mother added, "I am the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven, pray always." To one child Our Lady asked, "Do you love my Son?" The child answered, "Yes". Then Our Lady asked, "Do you love me?" and the girl responded, "Yes". Our Blessed Mother said,  "Then sacrifice yourself for me." On July 2, 1949, the Church approved the apparitions of Beauraing and today it is the beautiful shrine of Our Lady of the Golden Heart.
Adapted from www.monksofadoration.org

Can the life of a good Christian be anything other than that of a man nailed to the Cross with Jesus Christ?
-- St. John Vianney

November 29 - Apparition of Our Lady of Beauraing (Belgium, 1932)
Mary in the Temple (IX) The king was seduced by your beauty
When she who was to feed with her breasts the Christ God to be born of her, was weaned from the breast and had attained the age of three, her holy parents brought her to God's Temple, and consecrated her as an offering to God, according to a vow they had made before she was born.
In Psalm 44, David alludes for the first time to his King and Son, saying, "They placed a princess at your right hand" (Ps 45: 9). This verse alludes to the presentation to the Temple, the placing at the right side of the altar in the Holy of Holies, which was actually considered to be the right hand of God. He describes her as "beautiful clothed in brocade" (Ps 45: 11 and 14), (...) her beauty pleased the king who lived by her side. "Listen, my daughter, attend to my words and hear" (Ps 45:10). Listen to the first proclamations of the prophets about you, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and to the new stories about your parents, their barrenness and decrepitude, their prayers and petitions, and the announcements from God concerning your birth, and by his grace your unexpected and wonderful birth. And may your thoughts not remain on this Jewish people and your father's house. "Forget your own people and your ancestral home" (Ps 44:11) and all that which belongs to this world, and put on a new thought and a solid hope, and "then the king will fall in love with your beauty" (Ps 45:11), and you will be worthy to be truly called his mother.

Moreover, He enriched his own prophecy by teaching that rich men would send gifts and come to serve her; this is why the psalm reads, "the richest of peoples with jewels set in gold" (Ps 45:13). And in your exterior attitude we can see the deeper and more glorious interior. The psalm not only shows the inner richness of her virtues but also the unutterable abundance and beauty of those graces from the Spirit, which are deeper than thought.
Excerpts from The Life of the Virgin By St Maximus Confessor

November 29 - Apparition of Our Lady of Beauraing (Belgium, 1932) The Rue du Bac Apparitions (III)
"While I was contemplating her, the Blessed Virgin lowered her eyes and looked at me, and at the same moment I heard a voice saying, 'These rays are symbols of all the graces that Mary obtains for people.' (...)
"Then an oval formed around the Blessed Virgin, and I read these words: 'O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you,' written in gold letters. I was shown the reverse side: the letter M surmounted with a little cross and below it the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Again, an interior voice spoke, telling me to have a medal struck on this model. It would be a source of wonderful graces to those who wear it with confidence.
Saint Catherine Laboure

The Apparitions at Beauraing (III): Now She Has Her Rosary
November 29 - APPARITION OF OUR LADY OF BEAURAING (Belgium, 1932)
On the next Sunday, there were two apparitions, one to all the children, at the usual time; the other, later, to Albert alone. During the first one, Albert asked the Blessed Virgin several questions, especially about a possible miracle.
The answer was inconclusive. In course of the second one, he asked for the cure of a woman named Paulette Dereppe. The Blessed Virgin kept smiling the whole time. In both apparitions, the Blessed Virgin asked the children to come back on the day of the Immaculate Conception.
Then on Wednesday, December 7th, the Lady had her rosary. For the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a crowd of about fifteen thousand assembled expecting a great miracle, but they only saw the children in ecstasy, impervious to lighted matches held underneath their hands, pin pricks, or lights shone in their eyes.
It was a very long vision (the time to say the 5 decades of a rosary).
Meanwhile, the local priest, and the Church authorities at large, were taking a very prudent and circumspect attitude towards the apparitions at Beauraing, refusing involvement. A local bishop ordered priests to stay away from the site.
Adapted from a Historical Summary of the Apparitions at Beauraing,
Doctrinal Commission (Beauraing Files Vol. 5: Official Inquiry 1933-1951)
Read: http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/approved/appariti/beaurain.html

In Psalm 44, David alludes for the first time to his King and Son, saying, "They placed a princess at your right hand" (Ps 45: 9). This verse alludes to the presentation to the Temple, the placing at the right side of the altar in the Holy of Holies, which was actually considered to be the right hand of God. He describes her as "beautiful clothed in brocade" (Ps 45: 11 and 14), (...) her beauty pleased the king who lived by her side. "Listen, my daughter, attend to my words and hear" (Ps 45:10). Listen to the first proclamations of the prophets about you, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and to the new stories about your parents, their barrenness and decrepitude, their prayers and petitions, and the announcements from God concerning your birth, and by his grace your unexpected and wonderful birth. And may your thoughts not remain on this Jewish people and your father's house. "Forget your own people and your ancestral home" (Ps 44:11) and all that which belongs to this world, and put on a new thought and a solid hope, and "then the king will fall in love with your beauty" (Ps 45:11), and you will be worthy to be truly called his mother.
Moreover, He enriched his own prophecy by teaching that rich men would send gifts and come to serve her; this is why the psalm reads, "the richest of peoples with jewels set in gold" (Ps 45:13). And in your exterior attitude we can see the deeper and more glorious interior. The psalm not only shows the inner richness of her virtues but also the unutterable abundance and beauty of those graces from the Spirit, which are deeper than thought.
Excerpts from The Life of the Virgin  By St Maximus Confessor
Nestorian Christians, successors to the dissidents of the 5th-v. Council of Ephesus’
teaching on Jesus Christ, had been in China since the 7th v.
St John of_Monte Corvino converted some of them and also some of the Chinese,
including Prince George from Tenduk, northwest of Beijing. Prince George named his son after this holy friar.
Saturninus of Toulouse BM (RM) (also known as Saturnin, Sernin) Born in Rome; died c. 257.
Saint Sernin forms a link between Gaul and Judea, and between our civilization and Jesus Christ himself.
According to legend, Sernin was Greek and lived during the time of Jesus. He heard of John the Baptist, went to hear him, and was so deeply moved that he stayed to become one of his disciples.  He was baptized in the Jordan on the same day as Jesus, whom he thereafter followed, even becoming one of the 72 disciples.
1329 Blessed Frederick of Ratisbon (Regensburg) lay-brother by the Augustinian hermits; uninter­rupted cultus from the time of his death was confirmed in 1909; received Holy Communion at the hands of an angel. The inscription of his name in calendars, the title Blessed given to him, and the special place of his tomb shows the veneration with which he was regarded by his con­temporarie OSA (AC
1370 Blessed Nicolino Magalotti  OFM Tertiary Hermit cultus approved in 1856. Nicolino, a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis, lived as a hermit near Camerino for 30 years (Benedictines) (AC)
1577 Bd. Cuthbert Mayne 1/40 English martyrs;  When Martin and Campion had gone over to Douay they wrote several times to Mayne urging him to join them; in 1570, soon after he had taken his M.A., one of these letters fell into the hands of the bishop of London, who sent a pursuivant to Oxford to arrest all those named therein. Mayne was away at the time, and this narrow escape decided him: he abjured Protestantism and in 1573 was accepted at Douay. During the next three years he was ordained priest and took his bachelor’s degree in theology, and in April 1576 was sent back to England with Bd John Payne. Mayne was the 15th missionary priest sent out from Douay.
1638 Bl. Dionysius entered Portuguese service at Malacca, first a pilot then cartographer, took part in several expeditions; became a Carmelite then martyred at Achin by Sumatrans; refused to apostatize
1742 BD FRANCIS ANTONY OF LUCERA; Brother Francis Antony made his studies in various colleges, and in 1705 was ordained priest at Assisi. He gained his doctorate in theology soon after; Father Francis’s headquarters was in his hometown for the rest of his life. From the time that he received his mastership in theology he was known as “Padre Maestro”, Father Master, in Lucera (as he still is familiarly called there); a teacher and preacher throughout Apulia and the Molise as a superior it was said of him, “He measures our spirit by his own-he wants us all to be as holy as he is”. Like St Joseph Cafasso at the other end of Italy a century later, Father Francis was particularly concerned for the inmates of prisons; the Franciscan’s love embraced all;  it was he who started in Italy a Christmas custom of collecting gifts for the poor, and people continually came to him with their wants, whether possible or impossible. And sometimes the seemingly impossible ones were fulfilled too, notably where shortages of water were concerned; “If you want to see St Francis, watch Father Master”; his first superior said that he reached such a degree of mystical union with God that he was filled with Him; One characteristic was intense devotion to the Mother of God as conceived free from original sin, every year he celebrated a solemn public novena before the feast of the Conception (Lucera still observes it). It was on the first day of this novena, November 29, in 1742, that Father Francis died.


November 29  All Saints of the Seraphic Order (Feast) 
First Reading:  Sirach 44:1, 10-15 1  Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers in their generations.  But these were men of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten; their prosperity will remain with their descendants, and their inheritance to their children's children. Their descendants stand by the covenants; their children also, for their sake.  Their posterity will continue for ever, and their glory will not be blotted out.  Their bodies were buried in peace, and their name lives to all generations.  Peoples will declare their wisdom, and the congregation proclaims their praise. 

Psalm:  Psalm 24:1-6  The earth is the LORD's and the fulness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein; for he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.  Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully.  He will receive blessing from the LORD, and vindication from the God of his salvation.  Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. [Selah] 

Gospel:  Mark 10:17-21  And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.  You know the commandments: `Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"  And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth."  And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 

 Can the life of a good Christian be anything other than that of a man nailed to the Cross with Jesus Christ?
-- St. John Vianney
Blaise & Demetrius martyred at Veroli in central Italy MM (RM)
Vérulis, in Hérnicis, sanctórum Mártyrum Blásii et Demétrii.
    At Veroli, the holy martyrs Blaise and Demetrius.

Saints Blaise and Demetrius were martyred at Veroli in central Italy. Their connection with Saint Mary Salome is discarded by most writers (Benedictines).

  250 St. Paramon and 375 Companions martyrs
 Item pássio sanctórum Parámonis et Sociórum trecentórum septuagínta quinque, sub Décio Imperatóre et Aquilíno Præside.
    Also, the martyrdom of the Saints Paramon and his companions, to the number of three hundred and seventy-five under Emperor Decius and the governor Aquilinus.

Three hundred and seventy five martyrs who are reported to have been put to death on the same day during the persecutions of the Church under Emperor Trajanus Decius.

Martyr Paramon in Bithynia
The Holy Martyr Paramon and the 370 Martyrs with him suffered for their faith in Christ in the year 250 during the rule of the emperor Decius (249-251). The governor of the Eastern regions, Aquianus, had locked up 370 Christians in prison, urging them to abjure Christ and instead offer sacrifice to idols.

They subjected the captives to beatings, hoping by torture and the threat of death to persuade them to renounce Christ and worship the pagan gods. One of the local inhabitants, Paramon by name, openly denounced the cruel governor and confessed his faith in the One True God, the Lord Jesus Christ. They beheaded St Paramon after fierce tortures, together with the other 370 martyrs in Bithynia
The Holy Martyr Paramon and the 370 Martyrs with him suffered for their faith in Christ in the year 250 during the rule of the emperor Decius (249-251). The governor of the Eastern regions, Aquianus, had locked up 370 Christians in prison, urging them to abjure Christ and instead offer sacrifice to idols.

They subjected the captives to beatings, hoping by torture and the threat of death to persuade them to renounce Christ and worship the pagan gods. One of the local inhabitants, Paramon by name, openly denounced the cruel governor and confessed his faith in the One True God, the Lord Jesus Christ. They beheaded St Paramon after fierce tortures, together with the other 370 martyrs.

Paramon and Companions MM (RM). A group of 375 martyrs, venerated especially by the Greeks. They are said to have suffered on the same day during the Decian persecutions (Benedictines).

257 St. Saturninus Bishop of Touloise Martyr
Tolósæ sancti Saturníni Epíscopi, qui, tempóribus Décii, in Capitólio ejúsdem urbis a Pagánis tentus atque de summa Capitólii arce per omnes gradus præcipitátus est, atque ita, cápite collíso, excussóque cérebro, et toto córpore dilaniáto, dignam Christo ánimam réddidit.
    At Toulouse, in the time of Decius, the holy bishop Saturninus, who was taken to the capitol of that city by the heathen and thrown down the steps from the highest part of the building.  The fall having crushed his head, dashed out his brain and mangled his whole body, he rendered his worthy soul to our Lord.

309 ST SATURNINUS, MARTYR
THE Western church makes a commemoration of this martyr in today’s liturgy, but particulars of him are known only from the unauthentic passio of Pope St Marcellus I. The Roman Martyrology says: “At Rome on the Salarian Way the birthday of the holy martyrs, the aged Saturninus and Sisin­nius, the deacon, under the Emperor Maximian. After they had been weakened by a long imprisonment the prefect of the city ordered them to be put on the rack and stretched, beaten with rods and scourges, scorched with fire, and then taken down from the rack and beheaded.” St Saturninus is said in an epitaph by Pope St Damasus to have been a priest who came to Rome from Carthage; he was certainty buried in the cemetery of Thraso on the Via Salaria Nova.

The passio of Pope Marcellus, from which the legend of Saturninus and Sisinnius is derived, has been printed in the Acta Sanctorum, January, vol. ii, as well as in Surius, etc. The whole question has been fully discussed in CMH., pp. 626-627. A basilica on the Salarian Way which was seemingly dedicated to this St Saturninus was burnt down in the time of Pope Felix III (IV) c.528, but was rebuilt and again restored by Popes Hadrian and Gregory IV in the eighth and ninth centuries, which facts are duly recorded in the Liber Pontificalis.

3rd v. ST SATURNINUS, OR SERNIN, BISHOP OF TOULOUSE, MARTYR
ST SATURNINUS is venerated as a missionary who was the first bishop of Toulouse, and Fortunatus tells us that he converted a great number of idolaters by his preach­ing and miracles. He is supposed to have preached oh both sides of the Pyrenees. The author of his passio, who wrote before the seventh century, relates that he assembled his flock in a small church in Toulouse, and that the chief temple in the city stood between that church and the saint’s house. In this temple oracles were given, but they had been long silent, which was attributed to the presence of the Christian bishop. Accordingly the priests seized him one day going by and dragged him into the temple, declaring that he should either appease the offended deities by offering sacrifice to them or propitiate them with his blood. Saturninus replied, “I worship one only God and to Him I am ready to offer a sacrifice of praise. Your gods are evil and are more pleased with the sacrifice of your souls than with those of your bullocks. How can I fear them who, as you acknowledge, tremble before a Christian?” The infidels, enraged at this reply, tied his feet to a bull, which was brought thither to be sacrificed, and the beast was goaded to run violently down the hill, so that the martyr’s skull was broken and his brains dashed out. The bull continued to drag the body until, the cord breaking, what remained of it was left outside the gates of the city till it was taken up by two women and hidden in a ditch. Later the relics were enshrined in what is now the great church of St Sernin. A church built at the place where the bull stopped is still called the Taur. 

Later other legends, that he was sent to Gaul by Pope St Clement or even by the apostles, were woven round St Saturninus.

The passio of St Saturninus of Toulouse figures, strangely enough, among the Acta Sincera of Ruinart. Here again Delehaye’s CMH supplies references to all details of im­portance. St Gregory of Tours refers more than once to St Saturninus and his basilica at Toulouse, and he clearly had before him the text of the passio. Both Sidonius Apollinaris and Venantius Fortunatus pay honour to the holy bishop, and echo the same legendary account of his martyrdom. Saturninus of Toulouse is also commemorated on this day in all the Mozarabic calendars. See further, Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. i, p. 26 and pp. 306—307.

     St. Saturninus went from Rome by the direction of pope Fabian, about the year 245, to preach the faith in Gaul, where St. Trophimus, the first bishop of Arles, had some time before gathered a plentiful harvest. In the year 250, when Decius and Gratus were consuls, St. Saturninus fixed his episcopal see at Toulouse. Fortunatus tells us, that he converted a great number of idolaters by his preaching and miracles. This is all the account we have of him till the time of his holy martyrdom. The author of his acts, who wrote about fifty years after his death, relates, that he assembled his flock in a small church; and that the capitol, which was the chief temple in the city, lay in the way between that church and the saint's habitation. In this temple oracles were given; but the devils were struck dumb by the presence of the saint as he passed that way. The priests spied him one day going by, and seized and dragged him into the temple. declaring that he should either appease the offended deities by offering sacrifice to them, or expiate the crime with his blood. Saturninus boldly replied: "I adore one only God, and to him I am ready to offer a sacrifice of praise. Your gods are devils, and are more delighted with the sacrifice of your souls than with those of your bullocks. How can I fear them who, as you acknowledge, tremble before a Christian?" The infidels, incensed at this reply, abused the saint with all the rage that a mad zeal could inspire, and after a great variety of indignities, tied his feet to a wild bull, which was brought thither to be sacrificed. The beast being driven from the temple, ran violently down the hill, so that the martyr's scull was broken, and his brains dashed out. His happy soul was released from the body by death, and fled to the kingdom of peace and glory, and the bull continued to drag the sacred body, and the limbs and blood were scattered on every side, till, the cord breaking, what remained of the trunk was left in the plain without the gates of the city. Two devout women laid the sacred remains on a bier, and hid them in a deep ditch, to secure them from any further insult, where they lay in "wooden coffin" till the reign of Constantine the Great.

 Then Hilary, bishop of Toulouse, built a small chapel over this his holy predecessor's body Sylvius, bishop of that city towards the close of the fourth century, began to build a magnificent church in honor of the martyr, which was finished and consecrated by his successor Exuperius, who, with great pomp and piety, translated the venerable relics into it. This precious treasure remains there to this day with due honor. The martyrdom of this saint probably happened m the reign of Valerian, in 257.

Saturninus of Toulouse BM (RM) (also known as Saturnin, Sernin) Born in Rome; died c. 257.
Saint Sernin forms a link between Gaul and Judea, and between our civilization and Jesus Christ himself. According to legend, Sernin was Greek and lived during the time of Jesus. He heard of John the Baptist, went to hear him, and was so deeply moved that he stayed to become one of his disciples. He was baptized in the Jordan on the same day as Jesus, whom he thereafter followed, even becoming one of the 72 disciples.

He remained with the Apostles after the Crucifixion, and was with them in the cenacle when the Holy Spirit appeared to them. He went with Peter to evangelize the Middle East, and then went with him to Rome. From there he was sent to Gaul, and after stopping in Arles and Nîmes he settled in Toulouse with his two companions, Papoul whom Peter had sent with him, and Honestus whom he had converted on the way.

Yes, this is a legend trying to connect the foundation of the church of Toulouse back to the origins of Christianity. But like all legends they point to even more miraculous truths. It is a miracle that the message of Jesus Christ spread far and wide to all corners of the earth--to all nations, races, and peoples--pure, authentic, and unchanged.

You know how difficult it is for a group of people to agree upon anything, yet the Gospel remains the Gospel. You'd probably think of the founders of the group as having a good idea that is now out- of-date. But the work of Sernin first in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain, then in Toulouse, France, of others in Munich, in Armenia, in China, and in Africa has endured right down to the present. They belonged to different races, but they all preached the same religion--the same Jesus Christ, the same Saint Peter, the same John the Baptist.

They were often isolated, lost, or forgotten, and yet, centuries later, there is still no need to rectify their teaching. And if that isn't a direct connection with Jesus Christ, then what is? Take comfort in the fact that the more historians try to undermine the miracle, the greater it becomes. 
About 245 Saint Sernin was sent by Pope Fabian from Rome to preach the Gospel in Pamplona. From there he travelled to France, where Bishop Trophimus of Arles needed missionaries. Sernin was consecrated bishop of Toulouse.

When Sernin arrived in Toulouse he began by destroying the pagan idols, which caused a stir but was still only negative work. People were suspicious and something else was needed. Then one day Sernin cured the leprosy of Austris of Saxony, the daughter of Marcellus, the governor of Toulouse, and immediately afterwards half the town was converted.
You don't believe in miracles? Then how do you explain that one fine morning half the town awoke and found themselves Christians? Take away Sernin, take away the miracle, and you're left with an even bigger miracle, and one which is even harder to explain.
With Austris cured and Toulouse converted, Sernin didn't want to be bishop, so he set off to make new conquests. He stayed for a while at Auch and sent his disciples Honestus to Pamplona, where he later joined him and together they pushed on as far as Toledo. After converting both these towns, he returned to Toulouse, which he found in good condition. And this is another miracle: the evangelists went away for years and yet when they returned it was as if they had never been absent.

Sernin's work wasn't finished, for no work ever is, but he had done the essential part of it. Now all that remained for him was to die, and to die in the tradition of John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and Saint Peter.  He lived in Toulouse not far from the capitol, which was a pagan temple. He drove the demons out of the capitol--we don't know how, but we do know that the pagans felt that their temple was empty. One source says that to show his contempt for the pagan gods, Sernin took a house on one side of the pagan temple and built a small church on the other side. This is said to have silenced completely the pagan oracles, from which the pagan priests drew their principal income.

These pagan priests, assuming that Sernin's behavior had displeased their gods, one day seized Sernin, hauled him into their temple, and they tried to force him to sacrifice a bullock to their gods.  They had to act quickly, for crowds are easily moved one way or another, and so they began to beat and scourge him. No one intervened. God didn't come to protect him, so they went further. They tied him by the feet to an already excited bull that was waiting to be sacrificed. Sernin was dragged behind the bull and trampled until his body was dashed to pieces, his head smashed and his brains spilled out on the ground. And so Sernin was sacrificed instead of the bull.

Sernin probably didn't know Jesus and Saint Peter in the flesh, but Jesus triumphed when he died forgiving his executioners. At the very moment when the others believed that they had won, the real victory went to Jesus. It was not a negative forgiveness, but one which gave life.
Sernin also forgave his executioners. If his pardon came only from himself it would not have been worth much, but coming also from Jesus Christ it was effective. The connection between Sernin and Jesus Christ was direct, and that is the real miracle.

Today the church of Saint Sernin in Toulouse is the largest Romanesque church in France, and the saint's body lies in the choir, in a great tomb constructed in 1746 and resting on bulls of bronze (Attwater 2, Benedictines, Bentley, Coulson, Encyclopedia).
Saint Sernin is usually portrayed as a bishop dragged by a bull or with a bull at his feet (Roeder).
275 St. Philomenus Martyr Ancyra, Galatia
Ancyræ, in Galátia, sancti Philómeni Mártyris, qui, in persecutióne Aureliáni Imperatóris, sub Felíce Præside, igne probátus, mánibus pedibúsque ac demum cápite clavis confíxo, martyrium consummávit.
    At Ancyra in Galatia, St. Philomenus, martyr.  During the persecution of Emperor Aurelian, under the governor Felix, he was first exposed to the flames, then having his hands, feet, and head pierced with nails, he fulfilled his martyrdom.

Philomenus was put to death during the reign of Emperor Aurelian in the area of Ancyra, Galatia.
Martyr Philoumenus of Ancyra

The Holy Martyr Philoumenus suffered for Christ in the year 274, during the persecution against Christians by the emperor Aurelian (270-275). St Philoumenus was a bread merchant in Ancyra. Envious persons reported to the governor Felix that Philoumenus was a Christian, and so he came before a judge.

St Philoumenus did not renounce Christ. For this they hammered nails into his hands, feet and head, and they forced him to walk. The holy martyr bravely endured the torments and he died from loss of blood, giving up his soul to God.

Philomenus of Ancrya M (RM). A martyr of Ancyra (Ankara, Turkey) in Galatia under Emperor Aurelian (Benedictines).

309 Sts. Saturninus priest from Carthage & Sisinius deacon Martyrs of Rome
Romæ, via Salária, natális sanctórum Mártyrum Saturníni senis, et Sisínii Diáconi, sub Maximiáno Príncipe; quos, diu in cárcere macerátos, jussit Urbis Præféctus in equúleum levári et áttrahi nervis, fústibus ac scorpiónibus cædi, deínde eis flammas appóni, et, depósitos de equúleo, cápite truncári.
    At Rome, on the Salarian Way, the birthday of the holy martyr, Saturninus, an aged man, and the deacon Sisinius, in the time of Emperor Maximian.  After a long imprisonment, by order of the prefect of the city they were placed on the rack, stretched with ropes, scourged with rods and whips garnished with metal, then exposed to the flames, taken down from the rack and beheaded.


According to legend, Saturninus was a priest from Carthage who went to Rome and was arrested with a deacon, Sisinius, during the persecutions of Emperor Maximian. They were sentenced to hard labor and either died during their ordeal or were tortured and then beheaded. It is known with certainty that Saturninus lived, was martyred, and was buried on the Via Saleria, Rome, although details are not reliable.

Saturninus & Sisinius MM (RM). Saturninus was a Roman priest, though by birth, it is said, a Carthaginian. He and his deacon Sisinius were sentenced to hard labor and subsequently martyred. They were buried in the cemetery of Saint Thraso on the Salarian Way. They have no connection with SS Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, as has been alleged (Attwater 2, Benedictines, Coulson).

320 Illuminata of Todi virgin venerated at Ravenna in the Middle Ages, is still greatly venerated in Todi V (RM)
Tudérti, in Umbria, sanctæ Illuminátæ Vírginis.
    At Todi in Umbria, St. Illuminata, virgin.

Saint Illuminata, a virgin venerated at Ravenna in the Middle Ages, is still greatly venerated in Todi, Italy (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

6th v. St. Sadwen Confessor; Brother of Saint Illtyd and disciple of Saint Cadfan.
also known as Saturninus, brother of St. IIltyd.
He was a disciple of St. Cadfan and had churches dedicated to him in parts of Wales.

Sadwen of Wales, Hermit (AC) (also known as Sadwrn, Saturninus). Brother of Saint Illtyd and disciple of Saint Cadfan to whom some Welsh churches are dedicated. He has been confused with Saint Saturninus (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

560 Hieromartyr Abibus the Bishop of Nekressi in Georgia relics of the saint were glorified by healings

The Hieromartyr Abibus, Bishop of Nekressa, was one of the Thirteen holy Syrian (Cappadocian) Fathers, founders of Georgian monasticism, who had come to Georgia in the sixth century (May 7). At the request of the Georgian emperor Parsman VI (542-557) and the Katholikos Eulabius (552-560), the saint was consecrated as Bishop of Nekressi.

The Persians, who had seized Kakheti (Eastern Georgia), were spreading their fire-worship everywhere. Bishop Abibus, filled with apostolic zeal, walked with cross in hand through the cities and villages of his diocese and eradicated the crude superstitions, and also extinguishing the fires in the pagan temple of the Zoroastrians. Didoitsa and other mountaineers of Kakheti, living on the left bank of the River Alazan, renounced fire-worship and came through repentance into the bosom of the Church of Christ. St Abibus also converted many Persians to Christ.

The Persian satrap, living in the city of Rekha, was vexed at the saint's successful preaching, and gave orders to arrest him and bring him before him. The Imertino-Abkhaz Kathlolikos Arsenius the Great (+ 1390), the author of the Martyrdom of St. Abibus, relates, St Abibus on the way to Rekha received a letter and staff from his friend St Simeon the Stylite of Mount Divna (May 24); he even took leave of his fellow ascetics St Zeno of Ikatl and St Shio of Mgvimi (See May 7 and 9).

Brought before the Persian satrap, St Abibus refused to accept Zoroastrianism, and passionately denounced the ruler for his fire-worship. By order of the satrap, they subjected St Abibus to scourging and terrible beatings, after which he died a martyr, pelted with stones in the settlement of Rekha, near Gora. They threw the body of St Abibus to be eaten by wild beasts, but neither the beasts, nor birds, nor decay touched the holy relics. The brethren of the Samtavro monastery buried the relics with honor in their monastery.

The relics of the saint were glorified by healings, and later during the reign of the governor Kartli Stepanoz (639-663) were transferred at the desire of the Katholikos Thabor from Samtavro to the Mtskhet Samtavi cathedral and placed beneath the altar table, where they rest out of sight to the present day.

562 Brendan of Birr, Abbot contemporary of Saint Brendan the Voyager, and his fellow-disciple under Saint Finian at Clonard Abbey  great friend and protector of Saint Columba  (AC)
Born into the family of Fergus MacRoy, Saint Brendan of Birr a contemporary of Saint Brendan the Voyager, and his fellow-disciple under Saint Finian at Clonard Abbey.

An ancient, but incomplete, manuscript says that the 12 apostles of Ireland, who were together at Finian's school, saw a wonderful flower from the Land of Promise. Although today's saint was chosen by lot to go in search of that land, he was too old or frail for adventuring. Brendan of Clonfert went in his stead.

His abbey of Birr was somewhere near Parsonstown, Offaly. He was the great friend and adviser of Saint Columba. He intervened at a synod of Meltown (Meath) to end Columba's excommunication. Later, Columba had a vision of Saint Brendan's soul being carried by angels to heaven at the moment of his death. Columba immediately said a special Requiem Mass for Brendan at Iona many days before he had confirmation of his mentor's death.

From the Gospels of MacRegal (9th century), we know that Brendan's school at Birr was endured through that time. This book, now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, is a wonderful example of Irish illumination (Anderson, Benedictines, D'Arcy, Farmer, Healy, Kenney, Montague, Ryan).

573 St. Brendan of Birr monk at Clonard
Friend of St. Brendan the Voyager. Brendan was a monk at Clonard, Ireland. He became the abbot of Birr, near Offaly, and he also advised St. Columba. Columba had a vision of Brendan of Birr's soul being carried heavenward by angels

6th v. Venerable Acacius of Sinai died after suffering these torments for nine years mentioned in the Ladder (Step 4:110) as an example of endurance and obedience, and of the rewards for these virtues

Saint Acacius of Sinai lived during the sixth century and was a novice at a certain monastery in Asia. The humble monk distinguished himself by his patient and unquestioning obedience to his Elder, a harsh and dissolute man. He forced his disciple to toil excessively, starved him with hunger, and beat him without mercy. Despite such treatment, St Acacius meekly endured the affliction and thanked God for everything. St Acacius died after suffering these torments for nine years.

Five days after Acacius was buried, his Elder told another Elder about the death of his disciple. The second Elder did not believe that the young monk was dead. They went to the grave of Acacius and the second Elder called out: "Brother Acacius, are you dead?" From the grave a voice replied, "No, Father, how is it possible for an obedient man to die?" The startled Elder of St Acacius fell down with tears before the grave, asking forgiveness of his disciple.

After this he repented, constantly saying to the Fathers, "I have committed murder." He lived in a cell near the grave of St Acacius, and he ended his life in prayer and in meekness. St John Climacus (March 30) mentions him in THE LADDER (Step 4:110) as an example of endurance and obedience, and of the rewards for these virtues; also commemorated July 7.

7th v. Saint Hardoin of Brittany B (AC). (also known as Ouardon, Wardon, Hoarzon, Huardo) Bishop of Saint Pol-de-Léon in Brittany (Benedictines).
7th v. St. Egelwine Confessor prince of the house of Wessex.
He lived at Athelney, in Somersetshire, England.

7th v. St. Hardoin Bishop of St. Pol de-Leon, in Brittany.
France. He appears in some lists as Hoarzon, Haurdo, Quardon, or Wardon.

817 Walderic of Murrhardt  abbot-founder with the help of Emperor Louis the Pious OSB Abbot (AC)
Saint Walderic built and become the abbot-founder of Murrhardt with the help of Emperor Louis the Pious (Benedictines).

918 St. Radbod  Benedictine bishop great grandson of the last pagan King of Friesland Holland

918 ST RADBOD, Bishop of UTRECHT
RADBOD, the last pagan king of the Frisians (who said he preferred to be in Hell with his ancestors rather than in Heaven without them), was great-grandfather of this saint, whose father was a Frank. The young Radbod received his first school­ing under the tuition of Gunther, Bishop of Cologne, his maternal uncle. Little is known of St Radbod’s life, but he wrote hymns and an office of St Martin, an eclogue and sermon on St Lebwin, a hymn on St Swithbert and other poems which are extant. In a short chronicle, which he compiled, he says, under the year 900, “I, Radbod, a sinner, have been taken, though unworthy, into the company of the ministers of the church of Utrecht; with whom I pray that I may attain to eternal life”. Before the end of that year he was chosen bishop of that church, when he put on the monastic habit, his predecessors having been monks because priests of the monastic order had founded the church of Utrecht. After he had received the episcopal consecration he never tasted flesh meat, often fasted two or three days together, and was renowned for his kindness to the poor. During a Danish invasion St Radbod removed his see to Deventer, and there died in peace.

There is a medieval Life of St Radbod, written not long after his death, but it is a poor piece of biography. It is edited in MGH., Scriptures, vol. xv, pp. 569—571 and has also been printed with Radbod’s literary works in Migne, PL., vol. cxxxii. A better edition of his verse compositions is in MGH., Poetae latini, vol. Iv, pp. 160—173. Text and trans­lation of two lyrics in Helen Waddell, Mediaeval Latin Lyrics (1935), pp. 130—135, and cf. pp. 323—324. 

Radbod was given an education as a Christian by his uncle Gunther, Bishop of Cologne, Germany, and became bishop of Utrecht, Holland, in 900. As all of is predecessors had belonged to the order, Radbod immediately entered the Benedictines and found this affiliation helpful in administrating his diocese, in which the Benedictine influence was most keenly felt. As bishop, he also distinguished himself for his aid to the poor and for his poetry. He died at Deventer, France, where he had been forced to move his see after an invasion by the Danes.

Radbod of Utrecht, OSB B (AC). Saint Radbod's maternal great-grandfather (also named Radbod) was the last pagan king of Friesland, who said that he preferred to be in hell with his ancestors than in heaven without them. The fruit of his loins was made of different, though equally tenacious, stuff. Although Radbod's father was a noble Frank, he received his initial education at the hands of Bishop Gunther of Cologne, his maternal uncle. His tuition was completed in the courts of Charles the Bald and Louis the Stammerer, where the greatest scientific minds of the time were to be found.

Little else is known of his life until Radbod, upon his ordination to the priesthood in 900, wrote: "I Radbod, a sinner, have been taken, though unworthy, into the company of the ministers of the church of Utrecht; with whom I pray that I may attain to eternal life." Later that year he was unanimously chosen and consecrated bishop of Utrecht. Immediately he donned the Benedictine habit because all his predecessors had been monks. Radbod ruled the monastic cathedral and the diocese as an exemplary abbot-bishop. As a Benedictine he never again ate meat, fasted frequently for several days at a time, and was exceedingly generous to the poor.

Saint Radbod spread the life and miracles of Saint Martin in whose honor he wrote hymns and an office. He also composed an eclogue and sermon on Saint Lebuin, a hymn on Saint Swithbert, and other poems. At the end of his life when the Danes invaded, he moved his see to Deventer, where he died (Attwater 2, Benedictines, Coulson, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth, Walsh).
In art, Saint Radbod is pictured as a bishop washing the feet of the poor (Roeder).
1010 St. Gulstan Benedictine disciple of St, Felix
at St. Gildas of Rhuys Abbey in Brittany, France.
Gulstan of Rhuys, OSB (AC) (also known as Gustan, Constans). Saint Gulstan joined the Benedictine abbey of Saint Gildas in Rhuys, Brittany, under the rule of Saint Felix, who had restored the abbey (Benedictines).

12th v. Venerable Nectarius the Obedient of the Kiev Near Caves
Saint Nectarius the Obedient of the Caves, a monk of the Kiev Caves monastery, pursued asceticism during the twelfth century. For his unquestioning obedience to the will of elder brethren and his zeal for work he was termed "the Obedient." St Nectarius was buried in the Antoniev Cave. His memory also celebrated September 28 and the second Sunday of Great Lent.

1250 Blessed Jutta of Heiligenthal  founded and served as the first abbess OSB Cist. Abbess (AC)
(also known as Julitta) Jutta founded and served as the first abbess of the Cistercian convent of Heiligenthal for 16 years (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

1328 Servant of God John of Monte Corvino;  a soldier, judge and doctor before a friar. Prior to going to Tabriz, Persia (present-day Iran), in 1278, he was well known for his preaching and teaching. In 1291 he left Tabriz as a legate of Pope Nicholas IV to the court of Kublai Khan. An Italian merchant, a Dominican friar and John traveled to western India where the Dominican died. John and the Italian merchant arrived in China 1294, established his headquarters in Khanbalik (now Beijing), built 2 churches; 1st resident Catholic mission; By 1304 he had translated the Psalms and the New Testament into the Tatar language.
 
At a time when the Church was heavily embroiled in nationalistic rivalries within Europe, it was also reaching across Asia to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Mongols. John of Monte Corvino went to China about the same time Marco Polo was returning.
John, born 1247, was a soldier, judge and doctor before he became a friar. Prior to going to Tabriz, Persia (present-day Iran), in 1278, he was well known for his preaching and teaching. In 1291 he left Tabriz as a legate of Pope Nicholas IV to the court of Kublai Khan. An Italian merchant, a Dominican friar and John traveled to western India where the Dominican died. When John and the Italian merchant arrived in China in 1294, Kublai Khan had recently died.

Nestorian Christians, successors to the dissidents of the fifth-century Council of Ephesus’ teaching on Jesus Christ, had been in China since the seventh century. John converted some of them and also some of the Chinese, including Prince George from Tenduk, northwest of Beijing. Prince George named his son after this holy friar.

John established his headquarters in Khanbalik (now Beijing), where he built two churches; his was the first resident Catholic mission in the country. By 1304 he had translated the Psalms and the New Testament into the Tatar language.

Responding to two letters from John, Pope Clement V named John Archbishop of Khanbalik in 1307 and consecrated seven friars as bishops of neighboring dioceses. One of the seven never left Europe. Three others died along the way to China; the remaining three bishops and the friars who accompanied them arrived there in 1308.
When John died in 1328, he was mourned by Christians and non-Christians. His tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage. In 1368, Christianity was banished from China when the Mongols were expelled and the Ming dynasty began. John’s cause has been introduced in Rome.
Comment: When John of Monte Corvino went to China, he represented the Church’s desire to preach the gospel to a new culture and to be enriched by it. The travels of Pope John Paul II have demonstrated the universality of the Good News and the urgent need to continue the challenging work of helping the Good News take root in a variety of cultural situations.
Quote:  In 1975, Pope Paul VI wrote, "The Church evangelizes when she seeks to convert, solely through the divine power of the Message she proclaims, both the personal and collective consciences of people, the activities in which they engage, and the lives and concrete milieus which are theirs" (Evangelization in the Modern World, #18).
1329 Blessed Frederick of Ratisbon (Regensburg) lay-brother by the Augustinian hermits; uninter­rupted cultus from the time of his death was confirmed in 1909; received Holy Communion at the hands of an angel. The inscription of his name in calendars, the title Blessed given to him, and the special place of his tomb shows the veneration with which he was regarded by his con­temporarie OSA (AC)
1329 BD FREDERICK OF REGENSBURG
PRACTICALLY nothing is known of the life of this servant of God, whose uninter­rupted cultus from the time of his death was confirmed in 1909. He was born of poor parents at Regensburg (Ratisbon) and was received as a lay brother in the friary of Augustinian hermits in that city. He was employed by the Community principally as a carpenter and to chop wood for fuel; he used to thank God that there was any job that he was found capable of doing. Among the marvels related of him is that he received Holy Communion at the hands of an angel. The inscription of his name in calendars, the title Blessed given to him, and the special place of his tomb shows the veneration with which he was regarded by his con­temporaries. Bd Frederick died on November 30, 1329, but his feast is observed by the Augustinian friars and at Regensburg on the previous day.

A short biography, largely made up of miracles of a very conventional type, together with an imposing folio page engraving of the holy brother, stands in M. Rader’s Bavaria Sancta (1702), vol. i, p. 298. As the book was first published in 1615, it at least serves as evidence of a cultus which in some sense goes back to time immemorial, The decree of confirmatio cultus will be found in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. i (1909), pp. 496—498.   

Cultus approved in 1909. Born to poor parents in Ratisbon (now known as Regensburg, Germany), Blessed Frederick was received as a lay-brother by the Augustinian hermits in his hometown, where he was employed as a carpenter and wood-chopper (Attwater 2, Benedictines).
1370 Blessed Nicolino Magalotti  OFM Tertiary Hermit cultus approved in 1856. Nicolino, a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis, lived as a hermit near Camerino for 30 years (Benedictines) (AC)
1577 Bd. Cuthbert Mayne 1/40 English martyrs;  When Martin and Campion had gone over to Douay they wrote several times to Mayne urging him to join them; in 1570, soon after he had taken his M.A., one of these letters fell into the hands of the bishop of London, who sent a pursuivant to Oxford to arrest all those named therein. Mayne was away at the time, and this narrow escape decided him: he abjured Protestantism and in 1573 was accepted at Douay. During the next three years he was ordained priest and took his bachelor’s degree in theology, and in April 1576 was sent back to England with Bd John Payne. Mayne was the 15th missionary priest sent out from Douay.
1577 BD CUTHBERT MAYNE, MARTYR
THE English College at Douay was founded in 1568 and in the early days of the penal laws a legal distinction was made between those priests trained in this and other seminaries abroad and those “Marian priests” who had been ordained in England. The first “seminary priest” to pay for his mission with his life was Bd Cuthbert Mayne. He was a Devon man, born at Youlston, near Barnstaple, in 1544 and brought up a Protestant by his uncle, a schismatic priest. He went to Barnstaple Grammar School and at eighteen or nineteen was ordained a minister, with neither inclination nor preparation. His uncle then sent him to Oxford, where at St John’s College he got to know Dr Gregory Martin and Bd Edmund Campion, who was still a Protestant, and he was soon inwardly persuaded of the truth of Catholicism; but he held back for fear of losing his appointments and falling into poverty.
  When Martin and Campion had gone over to Douay they wrote several times to Mayne urging him to join them, and in 1570, soon after he had taken his M.A., one of these letters fell into the hands of the bishop of London, who sent a pursuivant to Oxford to arrest all those named therein. Mayne was away at the time, and this narrow escape decided him: he abjured Protestantism and in 1573 was accepted at Douay. During the next three years he was ordained priest and took his bachelor’s degree in theology, and in April 1576 was sent back to England with Bd John Payne. Mayne was the 15th missionary priest sent out from Douay.

He took up his residence at the mansion of Francis Tregian at Golden in the parish of Probus in Cornwall, where he passed as the estate-steward. Few par­ticulars are known of his ministry from this centre, but suspicions were excited and a year later the high sheriff, Richard Grenville, searched Tregian’s house.*{* Of Revenge fame. He got his knighthood for his part in Mayne’s condemnation.}
Mayne was found to have an Agnus Dei round his neck, and was accordingly arrested, together with Mr Tregian. The sheriff from one gentle­man’s house to another carried Cuthbert till they came to Launceston, where he was confined in a filthy cell of the prison, chained to the bedpost. At the Michaelmas assizes he was indicted for having obtained from Rome and published at Golden a “faculty containing matter of absolution” of the Queen’s subjects (actually they had found a printed announcement, from Douay, of the jubilee indulgence of 1575, two years out of date); for having taught, in Launceston jail, the ecclesiastical power of the Bishop of Rome (on the uncertain evidence of three illiterate witnesses); that he had brought into the kingdom and delivered Mr Tregian “a vain and superstitious thing, commonly called an agnus Dei” (no evidence was offered of importa­tion or delivery); and for having celebrated Mass (on the strength of finding a missal, chalice and vestments at Golden). All these things contrary to statutes of 1 and 13 Elizabeth.

   On the direction of Mr Justice Manwood (and after prolonged consultation with Mr Sheriff Grenville) the jury found a verdict of guilty; Bd Cuthbert was sentenced to death, and three of the four gentlemen and their three yeomen, charged with him as abettor; to perpetual imprisonment and forfeiture. But the second judge, Mr Justice Jeffrey, had qualms about these proceedings and procured a reconsideration of the case by the whole judicial bench, at Serjeants’ Inn. These judges could not agree and, though the weight of opinion favoured Jeffrey’s opinion, the Privy Council directed that the conviction should stand as a warning to priests coming from beyond the seas. The day before his execution Bd Cuthbert was offered his liberty if he would swear to the queen’s ecclesiastical supremacy. He asked for a Bible, kissed it, and said, “The queen neither ever was nor is nor ever shall be the head of the Church of England”. He was drawn to Launceston market place on a sledge, but was not allowed to address the crowd from the scaffold. When invited to implicate Mr Tregian and his brother-in-law, Sir John Arundell, Mayne replied, “I know nothing of them except that they are good and pious men; and of the things laid to my charge no one but myself has any know­ledge”. He was cut down alive but was probably unconscious before the butchery of disembowelling began.

   Cuthbert Mayne was among those whose beatification was declared by Pope Leo XIII, and his feast is observed in Plymouth and several other English dioceses. The Carmelite nuns of Lanherne possess a considerable relic of the martyr’s skull, recovered from Launceston, where it was displayed. The noble confessor Francis Tregian was deprived of his lands and was in various prisons for nearly thirty years, for harbouring Bd Cuthbert. After his death, at Lisbon in 1608, it was claimed that his relics worked miracles. “It is particularly remarked that not one of those whom Mr Maine reconciled to the Church could ever be induced to renounce the Catholic truth, which they had learned from so good a master.”

The most reliable account of this martyr is that written by E. S. Knox for Camm, LEM., vol. ii, pp. 204—221 and 656. See also MMP., pp. 1-6 and 601; R. A. McElroy, Bd Cuthbert Mayne (1929); A. L. Rowse, Tudor Cornwall (1941), cap. xiv; and P. A. Boyan and G. R. Lamb, Francis Tregian (1955).

Born near Branstaple, in Devonshire, as a Protestant. He converted to Catholicism at St. John’s, Oxford. Cuthbert was ordained at Douai, France, and sent home to England about 1575. Working in Cornwall, he was captured after a year. Condemned for celebrating a Mass, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered on November 25. Cuthbert was a friend of Edmund Campion, and he was aided by Francis Tregian in Cornwall. He was the first Englishman trained for the priesthood at Douai and was the protomartyr of English seminaries. Cuthbert was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
1638 Bl. Dionysius entered Portuguese service at Malacca, first a pilot then cartographer, took part in several expeditions; became a Carmelite then martyred at Achin by Sumatrans; refused to apostatize

1638 BB. DIONYSIUS AND REDEMPTUS, MARTYRS
THERE was born at Honfleur in Normandy in the year 1600 to the family of Berthelot the first of ten children, and he was baptized Peter. When he was nineteen he sailed to the East Indies in the French ship Espérance, which was captured and burnt by Dutch privateers. Young Berthelot made his escape from Java and for some years traded on his own. Then he entered the Portuguese service at Malacca, became first a pilot and then cartographer, and took part in several expeditions.
  In 1635 he met at Goa the prior of the Discalced Carmelites, and was induced by him to join that order, taking the name of Dionysius. Soon after his profession the Portuguese viceroy asked for his services as pilot to the embassy that he was sending to Sumatra. The Carmelite authorities agreed, and ordained Friar Dionysius priest so that he could act as chaplain as well; he was accompanied by a lay brother, Redemptus. His name in the world was Thomas Rodriguez da Cunha, and he had been a soldier in India before he joined the Carmelites. No sooner had they arrived at Achin (Koetaraja) than the ambassador and his suite were seized by the Sumatrans and put in prison. A number of them were massacred, including the two friars. Dionysius, refusing to apostatize, was to be trampled by elephants, but the impatient pagans cut him down; Redemptus was killed a few days later. Directly the news reached Goa the prior, Friar Philip, collected evidence and prepared to introduce the cause of beatification of his two subjects; but Dionysius and Redemptus were not in fact beatified until 1900.

An account of these martyrs is given in considerable detail by Frey João do Sacramento in his Chronica de Carmelitas Descalços, vol. ii (1721), pp. 798—813. He informs us that Father Philip induced Archbishop Francis of Goa to institute a formal process with a view to the beatification of the martyrs and that the same Father Philip published a relation of the events which attended their death. This seems to be contained in his books, Itinerarium Orientale (1649) and Decor Carmeli (1665). We have in modern times Thomas de Jesus, Les bx Denis de la Nativité et Rédempt de la Croix (1900) P. Gonthier, Vie admirable de Pierre Berthelot (1917) and a series of articles in Etudes Carmelitaines, 1912, pp. 426—442, and 1913, pp. 215—227 and pp. 387—397. Some maps drawn by Bd Dionysius are said to be in the British Museum.

Called Dionysius of the Nativity, born Peter Berthelot. He entered the Carmelite Order in Goa, India, in 1635 after a career as a French trader and ship master. Ordained in 1638, Dionysius was sent to Sumatra, Indonesia, with Redemptus, a lay brother. Arrested at Achin, Dionysius and his companions were slain. They were beatified in 1900.

Blessed Dionysius & Redemptus of the Cross, OCD M (AC).  Dionysius of the Nativity (Peter Berthelot) was a French shipmaster and trader who became a Carmelite at Goa, India, in 1635, and was ordained in 1638. That same year he was sent on an embassy to Sumatra as both pilot and chaplain accompanied by a Portuguese Carmelite lay-brother, Redemptus of the Cross (Thomas Rodriguez da Cunha). The embassy failed and both friars were put to death by the Sumatrans (Attwater 2, Benedictines).

1742 BD FRANCIS ANTONY OF LUCERA; Brother Francis Antony made his studies in various colleges, and in 1705 was ordained priest at Assisi. He gained his doctorate in theology soon after; Father Francis’s headquarters was in his hometown for the rest of his life. From the time that he received his mastership in theology he was known as “Padre Maestro”, Father Master, in Lucera (as he still is familiarly called there); a teacher and preacher throughout Apulia and the Molise as a superior it was said of him, “He measures our spirit by his own-he wants us all to be as holy as he is”.
Like St Joseph Cafasso at the other end of Italy a century later, Father Francis was particularly concerned for the inmates of prisons; the Franciscan’s love embraced all;  it was he who started in Italy a Christmas custom of collecting gifts for the poor, and people continually came to him with their wants, whether possible or impossible. And sometimes the seemingly impossible ones were fulfilled too, notably where shortages of water were concerned;
“If you want to see St Francis, watch Father Master”; his first superior said that he reached such a degree of mystical union with God that he was filled with Him; One characteristic was intense devotion to the Mother of God as conceived free from original sin, every year he celebrated a solemn public novena before the feast of the Conception (Lucera still observes it). It was on the first day of this novena, November 29, in 1742, that Father Francis died.

 IN the later part of the seventeenth century there was living at Lucera in Apulia a poor family-the man was a farm-labourer-called Fasani, into which was born in 1681 a boy who was christened Donato Antony John Nicholas, commonly called Johnnie. It was a good and respectable household, but before little John was ten his father died, and his mother married again. However, her second choice was good too, and it was due to the stepfather, Francis Farinacci, that John Fasani was sent to be educated by the Conventual Friars Minor at Lucera. He also heard a call to that order, and in his fifteenth year was clothed at the provincial novitiate on Monte Gargano. Brother Francis Antony made his studies in various colleges, and in 1705 was ordained priest at Assisi. He gained his doctorate in theology soon after, and in 1707 was sent as lector in philosophy to the Conventual college at Lucera.

Father Francis’s headquarters was in his hometown for the rest of his life. From the time that he received his mastership in theology he was known as “Padre Maestro”, Father Master, in Lucera (as he still is familiarly called there), although he fulfilled a succession of offices, including that of minister provincial of the province of Sant’ Angelo. He had made his mark as a teacher and as a preacher throughout Apulia and the Molise as a superior it was said of him, “He measures our spirit by his own-he wants us all to be as holy as he is”. Like St Joseph Cafasso at the other end of Italy a century later, Father Francis was particularly concerned for the inmates of prisons, of whom those condemned to death were perhaps the more fortunate as an indication of their condition one of his Italian biographers quotes Gladstone’s denouncement of Neapolitan prisons one hundred years after. But the Franciscan’s love embraced all;  it was he who started in Italy a Christmas custom of collecting gifts for the poor, and people continually came to him with their wants, whether possible or impossible. And sometimes the seemingly impossible ones were fulfilled too, notably where shortages of water were concerned.
   It was currently said in Lucera, “If you want to see St Francis, watch Father Master”; and his first superior said of him that he had reached such a degree of mystical union with God that he was filled with Him. One of his characteristics was an intense devotion to the Mother of God as conceived free from original sin, and every year he celebrated a solemn public novena before the feast of the Conception (Lucera still observes it). It was on the first day of this novena, November 29, in 1742, that Father Francis died.
   Some time before, when he seemed to be in good health, he had foretold that his earthly end was at hand to one of his penitents, and to Father Ludovic Gioca who, he suggested, would accompany him. Father Ludovic was rather upset. “Listen, Father Master”, he said, “If you
want to die, that is your affair. But I am in no hurry.” “We must both make the journey: I first, you later”, was the reply. Father Ludovic survived Father Master by only two months. Bd Francis Antony Fasani was beatified in 1951.

There are Italian biographies by Canon T. M. Vigilanti (1848), Fr L. Berardini (1951) and Fr G. Stano (1951). The last, a short life, has been translated into English by Fr R Huber in America (1951); it includes two interesting portraits of the beatus




THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 140

Deliver me, O Lady, from all evil: and from the infernal enemy defend me.

Against me he hath drawn his bow: and in his craftiness he hath laid snares for me.

Restrain his evil power: and powerfully crush his craft.

Turn back his iniquity on his own head: and let him speedily fall into the pit which he hath made.

But we will rejoice in thy service: and we will glory in thy praise.


For thy spirit is kind: thy grace fills the whole world.

Thunder, ye heavens, from above, and give praise to her: glorify her, ye earth, with all the dwellers therein.

Rejoice, ye Heavens, and be glad, O Earth: because Mary will console her servants and will have mercy on her poor.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be.

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 140

O Lady, I have cried to thee, hear me: incline unto my prayer and to my supplication.

Let my supplication be directed as incense before thy face: both in the time of the evening sacrifice and in the morning.

Let not my heart turn aside into spiteful words: and let not the thought of wickedness upset my mind.

Make me submissive to the good pleasure of thy heart: and let me be conformed to thy actions.

With the sword of understanding pierce my heart: and with the dart of charity inflame my mind.


For thy spirit is kind: thy grace fills the whole world.

Thunder, ye heavens, from above, and give praise to her: glorify her, ye earth, with all the dwellers therein.


Rejoice, ye Heavens, and be glad, O Earth: because Mary will console her servants and will have mercy on her poor.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be.



God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea. 
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heavenonly saints are allowed into heaven.
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati  from history
 and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources

Patron_Saints.html  Widowed_Saints htmIndulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines  
India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes 1858  China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine  Loreto, Italy  Marian Apparitions (over 2000Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
 
Links to Related MarianWebsites  Angels and Archangels  Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell

Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  UniateChalcedon

Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BLay Saints  Miraculous_IconMiraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800  1900 2000
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000  
 
1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900 Lay Saints

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him
For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness
1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible.  4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6.  Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7.  Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.

Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.

O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.
 
In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.  Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.
Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.
Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.
After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)
1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]

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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about
The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; A very Holy Man of God.
Monsignor Reardon Protonotarius Apostolicus
 
Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN
America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World
August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation
by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908
James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932
James M. Reardon Publication  History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement
1362-1950 (1952);

The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;
  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgence Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the
life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense
Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

As we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television screens.  These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace.
Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Islam is a religion of peace.  As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail.  There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima. In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.”

Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetically spoke of the resurgence of Islam in our day. He said it would be through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Islam would be converted. We must pray for this to happen quickly if we are to avert a horrible time of suffering for this poor, sinful world. Turn to our Mother in this time of great peril. Pray the Rosary every day. Then, and only then will there be peace, when the hearts and minds of men are changed from the inside.
Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray!  God bless you, Father John Corapi

Father Corapi's Biography

Father John Corapi is what has commonly been called a late vocation. In other words, he came to the priesthood other than a young man. He was 44 years old when he was ordained. From small town boy to the Vietnam era US Army, from successful businessman in Las Vegas and Hollywood to drug addicted and homeless, to religious life and ordination to the priesthood by Pope John Paul II, to a life as a preacher of the Gospel who has reached millions with the simple message that God's Name is Mercy!

Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.

Father John Corapi goes to the heart of the contemporary world's many woes and wars, whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, or the Congo, or the natural disasters that seem to be increasing every year, the moral and spiritual war is at the basis of everything. “Our battle is not against human forces,” St. Paul asserts, “but against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness...” (Ephesians 6:12). 
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that  unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds.  The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him.

About Father John Corapi.
Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .
The pillars of father's preaching are basically:
Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary 
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified
Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification.

Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest
Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization.

Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood
Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint.

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs
Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December
Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8.

Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes
Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer.

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified
Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification.

Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest
Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization.

Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood
Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint.

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs
Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December
Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8.

Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes
Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer.

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

8 Martyrs Move Closer to Sainthood 8 July, 2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016

The angel appears to Saint Monica
This morning, Pope Francis received Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. During the audience, he authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:

***
MIRACLES:
Miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Guardian Angel; born July 4, 1809 and died on Jan. 16, 1890
MARTYRDOM:
Servants of God Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and 6 Companions, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart; killed in hatred of the Faith, Sept. 29, 1936
Servant of God Josef Mayr-Nusser, a layman; killed in hatred of the Faith, Feb. 24, 1945
HEROIC VIRTUE:

Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991
Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973
Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853
Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896
Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912
Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919
Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious
VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See:
-Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts
-Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
-Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth
-Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims
-Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church
-Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims

CAUSES OF SAINTS July 2015.
Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop
Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification
By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Pope also recognized the heroic virtues of several religious/lay men and women from Italy, Spain, France & Mexico.
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is considered to be one of the most influential 20th century figures in the history of the Ukrainian Church.
Enthroned as Metropolitan of Lviv in 1901, Archbishop Sheptytsky was arrested shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 by the Russians. After his imprisonment in several prisons in Russia and the Ukraine, the Archbishop was released in 1918.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries.
Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958.
* * *
The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of:
- Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944);
- Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980);
- Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967);
- Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898);
- Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937);
- Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953);
- Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976);
- Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953)
October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

MARTYRDOM
- Servant of God Valentin Palencia Marquina, Spanish diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith in Suances, Spain in 1937;

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).
March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

– Blessed Manuel González García, bishop of Palencia, Spain, founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth (1877-1940);
– Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity (née Elisabeth Catez), French professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1880-1906);
– Venerable Servant of God Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus (né Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, founder of the Secular Institute “Notre-Dame de Vie” (1894-1967);
– Venerable Servant of God María Antonia of St. Joseph (née María Antonio de Paz y Figueroa), Argentine founder of the Beaterio of the Spiritual Exercise of Buenos Aires (1730-1799);
HEROIC VIRTUE

– Servant of God Stefano Ferrando, Italian professed priest of the Salesians, bishop of Shillong, India, founder of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (1895-1978);
– Servant of God Enrico Battista Stanislao Verjus, Italian professed priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, coadjutor of the apostolic vicariate of New Guinea (1860-1892);
– Servant of God Giovanni Battista Quilici, Italian diocesan priest, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Crucified (1791-1844);
– Servant of God Bernardo Mattio, Italian diocesan priest (1845-1914);
– Servant of God Quirico Pignalberi, Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1891-1982);
– Servant of God Teodora Campostrini, Italian founder of the Minim Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Sorrows (1788-1860);
– Servant of God Bianca Piccolomini Clementini, Italian founder of the Company of St. Angela Merici di Siena (1875-1959);
– Servant of God María Nieves of the Holy Family (née María Nieves Sánchez y Fernández), Spanish professed religious of the Daughters of Mary of the Pious Schools (1900-1978).

April 26 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Here is the full list of decrees approved by the Pope:

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Paqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).
LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 
China
Marian shrines
May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798  
Links to Related
Marian Websites  Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates, 140 2023